Osama bin Laden died in December 2001 and the US claims of killing the al-Qaeda leader in a military operation in Pakistan are "nonsense," says Ralph Schoenman, an American political observer.
"Osama bin Laden was reported [dead] by Fox News and by CNN on the 26th of December 2001; [these media outlets broadcast] the report of his death and the funeral that was held with the witnesses who were there, 30 al-Qaeda fighters, the Taliban representatives...," Schoenman said in an interview with Press TV on Thursday.
"Bin Laden is not alive and was not killed in this particular instance," he added.
Schoenman also pointed out that the al-Qaeda leader had nothing to do with the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York's World Trade Center Twin Towers and on the Pentagon.
"He [bin Laden] had zero to do with the events of September 11 as he articulated in great detail in Ummat, the publication of the Islamic movement in Karachi," Schoenman said.
His remarks echo those by former officials with Pakistan's military and intelligence service who said the terror mastermind had been killed elsewhere, questioning the reason for which the media had not broadcast the whereabouts and the manner of his death.
A 2007 Benazir Bhutto interview in which she says bin Laden was "murdered" years before also contributed to the uncertainty surrounding the US claims about his death.
In response to a question whether any of the assassins had links with the government, Bhutto said, "Yes but one of them is a very key figure in security, he is a former military officer ... and had dealings with Omar Sheikh, the man who murdered Osama bin Laden."
US President Barack Obama claimed that bin Laden was killed by US forces on May 1 in a hiding compound in Pakistan, resisting while unarmed.
He added that the military mission was conducted without the knowledge of Pakistani authorities due to US mistrust of their purported South Asian ally.
A US official later announced that bin Laden's body was abruptly buried at sea, falsely boasting that his hasty burial was in accordance with the Islamic law, requiring burial within 24 hours of death.
However, burial at sea is not an Islamic practice and Islam does not have a decree on a burial timeframe.
US officials also claimed their decision of the sea burial was made because no country would accept his remain, without elaborating on which countries were actually contacted on the matter.
Analysts, however, have raised serious questions as to why US officials did not allow for the application of a DNA test to officially confirm the identity of the corpse before the quick sea burial.